Maintaining in-flight attitude stability of aircraft during low-speed flight, and particularly those having highly-swept wings, has always presented challenges, particularly during takeoff and landing phases of flight. Normally, in a dynamic flight environment, real-time speed changes, including those related to deployment of wing flaps, will cause shifting of center of lift of an aircraft away from its center of gravity. Countervailing lift forces of elevators, typically situated on the tail of the aircraft, are mostly effectively utilized to offset such shifts by positively controlling aircraft pitch.
In the case of tailless aircraft, however, as may be the case for certain drones or other unmanned flight vehicles, deployment of elevators is not an option. Absence of elevator control can be particularly detrimental, not only from a stability perspective, but for loss of high lift performance when flaps may not safely be used. As a result, and in order to compensate, vehicle approach speeds must be significantly higher. In addition, not having the assistance of elevators during turbulence can result in upset and/or even catastrophic loss of the aircraft in extreme situations.